Billy Long
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 7th district
In office
January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2023
Preceded byRoy Blunt
Succeeded byEric Burlison
Personal details
Born
William Hollis Long II

(1955-08-11) August 11, 1955
Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Barbara Long
​
(m. 1984)​
Children2
EducationUniversity of Missouri (attended)

William Hollis Long II[1] (born August 11, 1955)[2] is an American politician and auctioneer who served as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 7th congressional district from 2011 to 2023. The district includes much of the southwestern quadrant of the state and is anchored in Springfield. It also includes Joplin and Branson.

A member of the Republican Party, Long was elected to fill the district's seat in 2010, succeeding Roy Blunt upon his election to the U.S. Senate. After Blunt announced that he would not run for reelection to the Senate in 2022, Long became a candidate in the 2022 race to succeed him, but lost the Republican primary to Eric Schmitt.[3]

Early life and education

A fourth-generation native of Missouri, Long was born in Springfield in 1955. He attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri[4] and was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity[5] before dropping out. After taking time off from school for three years, Long attended a nine-day training program at the Missouri Auction School in Kansas City.[6] He received his Certified Auctioneer designation via the National Auctioneers Association.

Career

Long owned Billy Long Auctions, LLC. He was also a talk radio show host on the Springfield-based station KWTO. He is a member of the National Association of Realtors, National Auctioneers Association, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle Association, and the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors.[6]

During a September 2018 House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on alleged anti-conservative bias on social media, far-right internet personality Laura Loomer interrupted the meeting. Long began a mock auction chant pretending he was selling Loomer's mobile phone until she was escorted out.[7][8] The incident generated considerable laughter and applause from the audience.[9]

Long also participated in the World Poker Tour, participating in professional sanctioned games including the Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage and the Bellagio Cup.

In September 2018, in response to sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Long retweeted a Twitter post comparing the allegations to a "kiss on the forehead".[10]

U.S. House of Representatives

Long during the 112th Congress

2010

Republican primary

Long joined the race for the 7th Congressional District after incumbent U.S. Representative Roy Blunt chose to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kit Bond. In the crowded seven-way Republican primary—the de facto election in the state's most Republican district—Long won with 36% of the vote.

Missouri's 7th district Republican primary, August 3, 2010
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Billy Long 38,218 36.56
Republican Jack Goodman 30,401 29.08
Republican Gary Nodler 14,561 13.93
Republican Darrell Moore 9,312 8.91
Republican Jeff Wisdom 4,552 4.36
Republican Mike Moon 4,473 4.28
Republican Steve Hunter 2,173 2.08
Republican Michael Wardell 844 0.81
Total votes 104,534 100.00
General election
2010 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 7th Congressional District
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Billy Long 141,010 63.39
Democratic Scott Eckersley 67,545 30.37
Libertarian Kevin Craig 13,866 6.23
Write-In Others 10 0.00

2012

2012 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 7th Congressional District
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Billy Long 203,565 63.87
Democratic Jim Evans 98,498 30.90
Libertarian Kevin Craig 16,668 5.23
Write-In Others 9 0.00

2014

In the August 5 Republican primary, Long defeated Marshall Works, 62.4% to 37.6%.[11]

2014 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 7th Congressional District
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Billy Long 104,054 63.46
Democratic Jim Evans 47,282 28.84
Libertarian Kevin Craig 12,584 7.68
Write-In Others 37 0.02

2016

In the August 2 Republican primary, Long defeated Nathan Clay, Christopher Batsche, Matthew Evans, Lyndle Spencer, Matthew Canovi, James Nelson and Mary Byrne.[12]

2016 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 7th Congressional District
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Billy Long 228,692 67.5
Democratic Genevieve Williams 92,756 27.4
Libertarian Benjamin Brixey 17,153 5.1
Write-In Others 6 0.0

2018

In the Republican primary, Long defeated Jim Evans, Lance Norris, and Benjamin Holcomb. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Jamie Schoolcraft, who had defeated Kenneth Hatfield, John Farmer de la Torre, and Vincent Jennings in the Democratic primary.[13]

2018 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 7th Congressional District
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Billy Long 195,872 66.3
Democratic Jamie Schoolcraft 88,642 30
Libertarian Benjamin Brixey 10,833 3.7
Write-In Others 270 0.1

2020

In the August 4 Republican primary, Long defeated Eric Harleman, Kevin VanStory, Steve Chetnik and Camille Lombardi-Olive.[14]

Missouri's 7th congressional district, 2020[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Billy Long 254,318 68.9
Democratic Teresa Montseny 98,111 26.6
Libertarian Kevin Craig 15,573 4.2
Independent Audrey Richards (write-in) 1,279 0.3
Write-in 2 0.0

Legislation

Since 2011, Long has sponsored 37 bills, 103 resolutions and 26 concurrent resolution, and co-sponsored 1,258 other pieces of legislation.[16] He also introduced the Agricultural Certainty for Reporting Emissions Act on March 14, 2018, which would amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. The bill has not passed the House for further voting in the Senate.[17]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Political positions

Immigration

Long supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order banning entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.[21]

Objections to the 2020 election results

After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Donald Trump refused to concede, Long pushed Trump’s claims of fraud in the election.[22]

In December 2020, Long supported an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election based on allegations of fraud.[23][24][25]

LGBTQ issues

In 2015, Long condemned the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the constitution.[26]

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary for William H. Long". Archived from the original on 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  2. ↑ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  3. ↑ Gomez, Henry J. (August 2, 2022). "Eric Schmitt wins GOP primary for Senate in Missouri, defeating former Gov. Greitens". NBCNews.com. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  4. ↑ "About Billy Long". Billy Long for Congress. 2010-11-02. Archived from the original on 2011-09-10. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
  5. ↑ "Prominent Alumni". www.deltau.org. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  6. 1 2 "Meet Vicky". billyforcongress.com. 2020-08-17. Archived from the original on 2020-08-17.
  7. ↑ "Congressman drowns out protester with auction call in Twitter hearing". CBS News. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "Watch: A fast-talking auctioneer-turned-Congressman drowned out this far-right protester". PBS NewsHour. Associated Press. September 5, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  9. ↑ Watkins, Eli (5 September 2018). "Congressman uses old auctioneer skills to drown out protester during hearing". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  10. ↑ "Congressman retweets post mocking sexual assault allegation against Brett Kavanaugh". Washington Post. 2018-09-17.
  11. ↑ "2014 Missouri House Primaries Results". Politico. August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Missouri's 7th Congressional District election, 2016". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  13. ↑ "Billy Long". Ballotpedia.
  14. ↑ "Missouri's 7th Congressional District election, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "All Results State of Missouri - State of Missouri - General Election, November 03, 2020". Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  16. ↑ Long, Billy. "Billy Long". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  17. ↑ "H.R.5275 - Agricultural Certainty for Reporting Emissions Act". Congress. United States Congress. 16 March 2018.
  18. ↑ "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  19. ↑ "Members". Congressional Constitution Caucus. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  21. ↑ Blake, Aaron. "Whip Count: Here's where Republicans stand on Trump's controversial travel ban". Washington Post. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Top Missouri Republicans embrace Trump's resistance to election results". Rolla Daily News. 2020.
  23. ↑ Huguelet, Austin. "Missouri Republicans back Texas AG lawsuit to overturn Trump loss". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  24. ↑ https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22O155/163550/20201211132250339_Texas%20v.%20Pennsylvania%20Amicus%20Brief%20of%20126%20Representatives%20--%20corrected.pdf
  25. ↑ "We Will Object". 31 December 2020.
  26. ↑ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
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